Sir Keir Starmer calling for nursery closure!

[Boogie5678]

Sorry I’m not sure how to link this but it’s on BBC news.

[quote SendHelp30]@Hardbackwriter everyone in this country is selfish. This pandemic has proven that.
Yes I’m selfish that I would like my 4 year old son to one day be able to speak and run and skip and tell me he loves me and say mummy. I’m extremely selfish.[/quote]
About as selfish as the people who want to keep a roof over their children's heads, I'd say

@IrishMamaMia my oldest son got 2 days a week which I was grateful for as they were the days the dietician worked and he had only just started peg feeding then so we really needed the help. The youngest only started in September because his speech and language should’ve started in august but was cancelled and waiting list was over 18 months and he’s non verbal too so they got him then. It’s so hard I get that but we’ve had 2 practitioners who’ve caught it from children at work who’ve them taken it home and 2 family members have passed away. I know it’s difficult to work from home with children, I really do, but it’s difficult when you see the other side as well; practitioners crying in the staff room because yet another child has tested positive and then having to go to the door to greet a child with a big smile and agreeing with the parent they’re so glad to still be open for them. It’s difficult when they’ve had to self isolate and then come back for a day to have to self isolate again and miss assessments of SEN children that really need the reviews. There’s so many aspects to it and it’s difficult to see from just the parents point of view. I think the difficulty for nursery staff is that teachers seem to of been classed as worthy of protection and they don’t. Minimum wage + no union reps; they feel very undervalued and unimportant and lots of them won’t continue in this job for much longer I don’t think.

@SendHelp30 it’s not convenience to be able to pay the mortgage or make the rent payments or to afford for food on the table.

Many parents are not able to work without adequate childcare. Single parents?
Those on low income working 2 jobs and that cannot be done at home? And so many more parents who rely on their 30 hours.
And if they can’t work then the whole family suffers.

That’s the inconvenient truth.

@Ttbhappy

What about sahm? Yes we don't have a job but we have school children at home that are reception/year 1 and have their sibling/s that might not be at nursery/self isolating weeks at a time, it's impossible to manage with younger siblings around that you can't teach the school children at home properly. It's not always about resources it's your time they need and that is almost impossible.

I’m sorry but for me personally that would be quite low priority behind actually keeping the economy going and people not losing their jobs left right and centre.

@Sexnotgender agree. If you are a SAHP, you keep your children home.

Priorities:

SAHM: Having time to teach your older children + ensuring socialisation for your preschoolers
Most working parents: Paying the bills + not dangerously neglecting your preschoolers as you try to do your job + having time to teach your older children + ensuring socialisation for your preschoolers

Surely it’s a simple enough case of who has more reasons to send their child in to nursery?

I say this as someone who’s experienced both SAHM and work.

The staff at your child's nursery probably feel the same, but they stay open as it benefits the children. Are you saying that's okay, but everyone else is selfish, even though a lot have genuine reasons for wanting them to remain open?

What about sahm? Yes we don't have a job but we have school children at home that are reception/year 1 and have their sibling/s that might not be at nursery/self isolating weeks at a time, it's impossible to manage with younger siblings around that you can't teach the school children at home properly. It's not always about resources it's your time they need and that is almost impossible.

Seriously? We're in a pandemic. Most people are suffering/compromising their lives in some way. Some of us have done for months. Yes, your ability to teach your older kid will suffer a bit. It's not ideal but neither is your child's nursery teacher ending up in ICU.

@SendHelp30

Yes one last week and one today, both level 3, which means we are having to turn some children away this week as my unqualified levels vs qualified level isn’t acceptable and I’m not meeting regulations. 😔

@Swissrollypoly

From a selfish point of view, I really hope they don’t.

I think that at a time like this we have to push beyond the selfish.

@Backbee they probably do to some extent, yes, although all staff and parents had a meeting discussing closure and the staff all said they wanted to continue to open as it’s more for the children’s health and development than childcare.
The staff at my sons nursery are either qualified teachers or healthcare professionals so slightly different to a private, mainstream nursery. Plus they only have a very small number of children compared to private nurseries like the one I work at with almost 90 children in.
They have 12.

Yes, having been a sahm I know it is hard. But no, not a priority right now.

@Freddiefox sorry to hear that Freddie. Our baby room had to close last week as we were left with an apprentice with our senior and three level 3s all off. It’s just getting worse isn’t it :(

they probably do to some extent, yes, although all staff and parents had a meeting discussing closure and the staff all said they wanted to continue to open as it’s more for the children’s health and development than childcare.

.... you said the staff at the nursery you work at cry in the staff room about not feeling safe but tell the parents they're happy to be open? But you're sure that the staff at the nursery you use are 100% honest with the parents? That's quite a convenient belief to hold, isn't it?

@Sexnotgender I also agree.
SAHP’s are able to keep their DC at home without stressing about holding down a paid job or childcare.
Sorry, it’s absolutely tough on all of us struggling to look after DC and homeschool, but easier for most SAHP’s without paid/unpaid responsibilities/jobs outside of the home.

[quote SendHelp30]@Freddiefox sorry to hear that Freddie. Our baby room had to close last week as we were left with an apprentice with our senior and three level 3s all off. It’s just getting worse isn’t it :([/quote]
@SendHelp30

Yes it is and they’ve just said that we won’t be included in the vaccine priority, so genuinely why would anyone work in a nursery?

@SendHelp30

I think that’s me done tbh.

The SAHM thing is slightly trickier than people are saying, as if the nursery is financially dependent on their fees then there's the same issue as people have pointed out about going to kw only, that for a lot of nurseries it won't be viable to stay open if they suddenly have large numbers giving notice. I start mat leave on Friday so won't be sending DS from Monday and I think that's the right thing to do, but I am hoping that case numbers are dropping and things look better by the time I've had the baby and am ready for him to go back because I don't want to give notice and lose his place but there's only so long it feels reasonable to pay hundreds of pounds a month for a service that I'm allowed to use but don't feel morally able to... Perhaps it's less of an issue for long-term SAHMs, though, who I guess are more likely to use funded places than to pay full fees?

@Hardbackwriter as I have explained several times now, it’s not the same type of setting.

My nursery practitioners complain they’re working on minimum wage mixing with Upto 30 children with no PPE every day for 10 hours.

My sons HCPs wear full PPE and have 1 hour slots with a max of 2 children at a time for 5 hours a day.

@SendHelp30 well I do seriously want to see nursery workers prioritised for vaccination in line with their contemporaries in similar NHS roles. Nursery workers should join NEU or Unison, they are really helpful and represent this sector afaik.

@Freddiefox I don’t blame you. I agree I think recruitment will be very tough going forward.
We advertised for a level 3 in November and received 2 applicants. October 2019 we had over 30 applicants for another level 3 position.

@IrishMamaMia thank you. I agree it should be the case shouldn’t it that if teachers are then so should nursery staff. It’s difficult to see how a childcare practitioner who will change, dress, feed, cuddle a young child wouldn’t be a priority but a secondary school teacher with no physical contact and social distancing would be.

all staff and parents had a meeting discussing closure and the staff all said they wanted to continue to open as it’s more for the children’s health and development than childcare.

And if they told you that they were not able to do their jobs without having childcare for their own children, would you understand that or would you sneer at them about only wanting childcare 'purely for convenience'?

@ SendHelp30
Because we’re not valued in the same way, the way we are being treated is quite bad really if you think about in factual terms.
it will take a long time for the sector to recover, and children will suffer in the long run. Both my staff who left are good staff with lots of experience of children and their families.
When there are no nursery spaces left, the powers that be might just take notice, or when nursery places cost even more due to supply and demand people will sit up.

@GoldenOmber obviously I would understand. I’m a parent. I get it.